Import duties on cycling goods

[Michael S]

Hi All, 

Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but 50 pages worth of info is a lot so sift thought.

 

I am looking to import a groupset from Germany.
The plan is to buy from Bikediscount.de, deliver locally in DE to friends, have them ship it over for me privately. 

As I am paying the 20% German VAT, when the package arrives, will I have to pay the 15% on 110% value when it arrives here or only shipping and handling? 

 

 

[rock]

2 hours ago, Michael S said:

Hi All, 

Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but 50 pages worth of info is a lot so sift thought.

 

I am looking to import a groupset from Germany.
The plan is to buy from Bikediscount.de, deliver locally in DE to friends, have them ship it over for me privately. 

As I am paying the 20% German VAT, when the package arrives, will I have to pay the 15% on 110% value when it arrives here or only shipping and handling? 

 

 

yes you will have to pay VAT on the 110% of the value of the goods plus handing fees (not actual shipping cost though)

[guidodg]

3 hours ago, Michael S said:

Hi All, 

Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but 50 pages worth of info is a lot so sift thought.

 

I am looking to import a groupset from Germany.
The plan is to buy from Bikediscount.de, deliver locally in DE to friends, have them ship it over for me privately. 

As I am paying the 20% German VAT, when the package arrives, will I have to pay the 15% on 110% value when it arrives here or only shipping and handling? 

 

 

have it shipped to you directly here...it will cost you much less since you only pay the SA VAT

[Michael S]

14 minutes ago, guidodg said:

have it shipped to you directly here...it will cost you much less since you only pay the SA VAT

Thanks yeah, was hoping to side step double VAT. 
They do not ship the SRAM Rival Mullet directly to SA unfortunately. 

[guidodg]

pity Merlin stopped shipping SRAM...try Bikeinn

[Bub Marley]

Try using Ebay for sram stuff from the UK. EBay from the uk is great as they tell you the customs upfront and you pay upfront as well.

[michaelbiker]

BikeInn will ship. Just don’t pick SAPO when you checkout. 

[MORNE]

Ill put this here as a reminder for first timers and since a few of the German store names have been mentioned above.

DHL shipping does not mean DHL Express. DHL shipping will hand your package over to local postal service..ie, SAPO.

DHL Express is a courier-to-your-door service, as is UPS or Fedex.

if you are willing to gamble by allowing SAPO into the equation on expensive packages, then thats a risk you need to consider. 

R2 Bike (also german) is one of the few german online retailers who ship here with DHL express as an option, but then only up to a certain value. 
 

its always worth emailing a store and asking for express shipping. Some of them do entertain you in this regard.

PS: the yearly limit on personal imports on your ID number has been increased from R50k-Max 3 purchases…to R150k-Unlimited purchases.  More than this and you will need to register a import license with SARS.

Edited yesterday at 08:13 AM by MORNE